If Only My Blender Looked This Snazzy

I think my appliances may experience craft envy! Donna felted this lovely blender cover from a piece of roving I gave her a while back. I love the idea of dressing up one's kitchen appliances!

An Inspiring Crafter

I'd like to introduce my blog readers to a most inspiring crafter: Donna Ferraro! Donna and I met a couple of weeks ago through my sister Sarah. We all needle felted and knitted together, and I mentioned to Donna that I originally got interested in needle felting because I saw photos of some really cute fairies. I also talked, as I usually do, somewhat incessantly about my cats.

Fast forward to today, when Sarah stopped by with a lovely bag of crafts from Donna for me! First, I am the proud recipient of this lovely needle felted fairy. It's amazingly intricate- not only is her face hand-painted, but her skirt is crafted from flower petals, and her legs are movable and beautiful, as they're wire that's been hand-wrapped with embroidery floss! Donna named her "Thimbleberry Fairy" and I am so happy to have her in my home. I've placed her on our chandelier for the moment, because it's one of the few places I know that Mochi (the wool destroyer) can't reach. I think the Thimbleberry Fairy looks cute there- like she's watching over our family meals. She even came complete with fairy dust!



Donna didn't forget about Meowzle and Mochi, and they sure are grateful for that! She sewed an organic catnip toy for each of the kitties, and as the pictures below indicate, they LOVE their new fish. In fact, they haven't stopped playing with these toys since I opened them 45 minutes ago. The packaging for these catnip fish is adorable, and the premium organic catnip, combined with the enticing ribbons, has made for two very contented cats.

And one very happy cat owner/crafter. Thanks a million, Donna. You made my day.

Crafty Donna and Crafty Di

I spent parts of this weekend learning and teaching various crafts. On Friday, crafty Rochesterian (is that right?) Donna taught me and my sister Sarah how to needle felt. I wish I'd had my camera with me, because Donna's needle felted creatures are really something to behold! I made a cute chick that sort of looked like a Peep but it was destroyed by Mochi, who was overcome with joy when she got her paws on that wool. John came in to my office and said, "I'm afraid I found a crafting casualty." He was carrying the poor chick's shredded body in one hand and wings in another. I also helped Donna learn how to knit on Friday, but she's a natural, so I really can't take any credit.

Then on Sunday, Diane and I spent a couple of hours working on various projects, including a lovely hat that Di knitted for a friend in Germany. I also taught her how to crochet a granny square. I look forward to see her first granny square blanket sometime soon!

Felting a Bag: Steps Two and Three

I've finished steps two and three of my felted bag. After washing and drying this bag five times, I finally achieved a felted look! I also achieved complete domination over our laundry pile. After some thorough cat inspection (FYI: Mochi approves), I sewed the handle into a tube and wove it through the holes in the top of the bag. Now I've got to figure out if I want to add to this bag by needle felting a design or not. I'm going to sit with the un-needle felted bag for a while and see if the crafty spirits move me in that direction.

Happy Birthday Meowzle

Today my infamous cat Meowzle turns three. He is infamous because he has been diagnosed with "human-directed aggression" towards some people (like my unfortunate sister). But I love him nonetheless, and want to share this photo of a needle-felted likeness that I made a while back:



And so that I don't seem cat-obsessed in this post, I'd also like to wish a very happy birthday to my wonderful step-mother-in-law Joan, who happens to share a birthday with Meowzle. :)

Skull Pillow

Stacey, who is the most voracious knitter I know, made us this really awesome El Dia de los Muertos skull pillow as a wedding gift. She used a skull pattern that she'd used to make a sweater, and then needle felted the flowers on to make it more colorful. I love it!